THE REIGN OF BIMETALLISM 17 
silver had been 1 to 144 in France and in the majority of 
bimetallist countries. Now the commercial ratio given by 
the London quotations for silver rarely exceeded 1 to 16 
or fell below 1 to 15. Thus the variations were always 
slight, and after the disturbed time of the Consulate and 
the Empire only four phases of alternating movements 
emerge between 1814 and 1873. Between 1814 and 1819 
the annual average, consistently below 14-5, shows that 
silver was at a premium with regard to the legal ratio ; be- 
tween 1820 and 1850 the commercial ratio, consistently 
above 15-5,! marks, on the contrary, a period in which 
gold stands at a premium ; from 1851-1866 the annual 
average, always below 154-5, once more shows silver at a 
premium ; from 1867-1873, the end of our period, the 
commercial ratio, consistently above 15-5 again, shows 
gold at a premium. 
Thus during the whole period in which gold and silver 
were concurrently accepted for free coinage, i.e. during 
the whole period of real bimetallism, the relative value of 
the two metals was only subject to alternating movements, 
which were slow and inconsiderable ; so that their prices, 
instead of pursuing independent courses, seem to be bound 
up with one another. 
We shall attempt to examine this important phase of 
modern monetary history by first seeking the causes of the 
fluctuations observed in the relative value of gold and 
silver and then by attempting to discover why these 
fluctuations were so slight, and why the rates of the two 
metals, so closely connected as long as the bimetallist 7égime 
lasted, became independent of each other after its dis- 
appearance. 
Although the fluctuations which occurred during the 
period of bimetallism in the relative value of the two 
1 In fact, owing to the costs of minting, the legal ratio in France was 
I:15+59 and later 1 : 15-58. But from 1820 to 1850 the quoted rate always 
corresponded to a ratio far exceeding, not only 1 : 15-50, but even 1 : 15-59. 
It was not till the period 1867-1873 that the annual average occasionally 
fell below 1: 15-58, but the price of silver often fell to a point corre- 
sponding to a higher ratio. 
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